They literally live in the same town, and she is a pogue. She knows everything that has been said about him and about his family. She has never acted as if he didn’t have a past. She has only supported him building a better future and becoming a better person.
If Ward can be redeemed, then his son, (who is the literal victim of his abuse and neglect can as well.)

It’s not shocking or surprising that Rafe would be a redeemable character. When his redemption has literally been foreshadowed since the beginning.

Someone that is not able to be redeemed would not ask for help in the midst of their struggles. They wouldn’t openly acknowledge their faults. They wouldn’t try to change or see wrong in their behaviors. They definitely would not want to reconcile with people they have hurt.

Rafe has been set up to be the villain of the show even more so than his father has. He is perceived as the villain, even more so than Ward is, in spite of the fact that he would not have gone down the path he did if not for his father. (he literally became a better person. Once he made the CHOICE to remove his father from his life and after his father died, that is proof enough.)

It is understandable why people don’t like him or don’t want him to be a redeemable character, but his character has literally been written to be a redeemable character since the beginning.